USA > Maine > The story of the Maine Fifteenth; being a brief narrative of the more important events in the history of the Fifteenth Maine regiment; together with a complete roster of the regiment , embracing the name of every officer and enlisted man serving > Part 3
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Reaching the moorings at New Orleans on the afternoon of May SOth, we remained on ship-board during the night. The great city seem- ed wrapped in profound slumber, and as to the order and unnatural quietude everywhere prevailing, rivalled even one of our staid New England vil- lages. It was difficult to realize that we were looking down upon a great city which but a few weeks before was teeming with an arrogant and defiant
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rebel population, and now, humbled as in the dust at the feet of the hated Yankee commander, was yielding implicit if not cheerful obedience to the mandates of the military authorities.
The next morning the ship moved up the river some six miles, to Carrolton, where we at once debarked, and reported to Gen. J. W. Phelps, commanding the United States forces at Camp Parapet.
CHAPTER VI.
THE EVENTFUL SUMMER OF 1869 AT "CAMP PARAPET."
CAMP PARAPET AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. - GEN. J. W. PHELPS, HIS COMMAND AND HIS ECCENTRICITIES. - BUTLER'S " IRON-RULE" AT NEW ORLEANS. - HE BRINGS THE HAUGHTY SOUTHRONS TO THEIR KNEES AND COMPELS CIVILITY. - THE MILITARY AND NAVAL OPERATIONS IN THE DEPARTMENT. - RETIREMENT OF COL. MCCLUSKEY AND MAJ. HAWES. - COL. DYER SUCCEEDS TO THE COMMAND. --- THE DEADLY MALARIA OF THE MISSISSIPPI SWAMPS. - THE FIFTEENTH INDULGES IN ANOTHER OCEAN VOYAGE AND DROPS ANCHOR ON THE FLORIDA COAST.
N Saturday, May S1st, 1862, the members of the Fifteenth found themselves, for the first time in their history, located upon " the sa- cred soil" of the South, and surrounded by its luxurious orange- groves and fertile plantations -- to say nothing of the numerous more disagreeable features incident to the location.
" Camp-Parapet " is about a mile and a half above the village of Carrolton and some six or seven miles distant fiom New Orleans. It de- vived its name from the fact that quite a formidable earth-work had here been constructed by the enemy early in the war, extending from the Mis- sissippi River on the left, some two miles, to a dense cypress swamp on the right, which, in turn, reached to the shore of Lake Pontchartrain. It had been erected with reference to repelling an attack from up-the-river; but inasmuch as the Yankee plan of the campaign against New Orleans was based upon an entirely different one than that contemplated by the rebel engineers, the " Parapet" proved entirely worthless to the parties constructing it. Nevertheless the Union soldiers found it quite serviceable in many respects, and the rebels seem not to have labored wholly in vain.
The forces at the post comprised the 19th Conn., 8th N. H., 7th Vt., and several batteries of light artillery ; now reinforced by the Maine Fifteenth. General J. W. Phelps, the eccentric and somewhat " cranky"
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Vermont brigadier, was in command, his headquarters being in an unpre- tentious tent in rear of the centre of the brigade line, and in quite as close proximity to the quarters of the soldiers as was at all times agreeable. The General was a rigid disciplinarian, constantly on the alert, with eyes and cars wide open : and there were occasions when the boys might have been quite as well pleased had he lived further away ! Nevertheless, this trifling inconvenience was more than counterbalanced in the privileges afforded the soldiers of rallying about the headquarters tent to listen to " the old man " in his frequent " lectures " to any victim so unfortunate as to be arraigned at brigade-headquarters for some trifling misdemeanor. Possessed of a wonderful vocabulary and an adept in the use of quaint expressions, bitter invective, and stinging sarcasm, the General was upon some of these occa- sions decidedly interesting-at least to all save the party to whom his re- marks were especially addressed !
The General's most favorite " subject " seemed to be some rebel planter who had in any way maltreated his slaves ; though when there was an insufficient supply of this variety to appease his appetite in a moment of irritation, any commissioned officer of high grade, a lieutenant or sergeant drilling his company, or even the most diminutive and inoffensive soldier on the extreme left of his company line, served the purpose for the time being. The "boys" will not fail to recall many of the General's ill-natured admon- itions upon the occasions of his irregular rounds on drill or parade, and es- pecially at the Sunday morning inspections !
And yet, it should be said in passing, during the General's occa- sional Ineid intervals he manifested some very amiable qualities of head and heart. He was exceptionally well-informed as to the minutest detail of every military requirement, was assiduous in his attention to matters in- volving the comfort of the soldiers or the sanitary condition of the encamp- ment, and, on the whole, was a very creditable brigade-commander. Gen. Phelps retired from service during the summer on account of a controversy with Geu. Butler as to the wisdom of supplying arms and equipments to the large number of negroes hovering about the camp. at a date prior to the government's decision to utilize " the contraband " for all military pur- poses to which he seemed adapted.
And speaking of the negroes, it was during this first summer on the Mississippi that the members of the Fifteenth received their first introduc- tion to that ever-present accompaniment of camp-life in the South. The " contraband "-" intelligent " and otherwise -- swooped down upon us from all directions, singly, in pairs and in swarms, and the camp was literally thronged with the dusky refugees. They were by no means unwelcome guests ; indeed they and the soldiers soon became devoted friends. The negro gratefully accepted any favors bestowed, and in return diligently la-
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bored about the camp, relieving the soldier of much of the drudgery which might otherwise have devolved upon him. As an auxiliary of every com- pany and headquarters mess-tent. the negro proved to be well-nigh indis- pensable ; and he rarely betrayed the confidence of a Union soldier.
Though located just outside of the city of New Orleans, the Fif- teenth was nevertheless part and parcel of Gen. Butler's military establish- ment, and its members were closely identified with the vigorous measures by which the haughty Southrous were compelled to yield obedience to the mandates of the military authorities. The treasonable spirit of the people of New Orleans and its vicinity, of either sex, manifested itself in every conceivable manner, and the desperately wicked nature of the unrepentant rebel heart daily asserted itself. But Gen. Butler's rare executive abilities proved equal to the emergency, and very soon the military authorities be- came masters of the situation. The hanging of the audacious Mumford in the presence of the assembled thousands in New Orleans; the famous " woman-of-the-town-plying-her-vocation " order ; the summary and severe punishment of the slightest indignity to the United States uniform or its flag ; coupled with the benign charitable measures inaugurated for the re -. lief of the destitute of the great city, worked their inevitable results, and the angry mutterings of the populace were in due time supplanted by an apparently cheerful acquiescence in the new order of things. Soldiers ou the streets were at least treated with civility, and no longer spat upon by hot-blooded rebels clad in the garb of richly-dressed ladies ! This wonder- ful revolution in publie sentiment in and about the Crescent City is aptly sketched in a poem of the period, of which the following is an extract :
IN THE EARLY DAYS OF BUTLER'S REIGN.
" In the City of the Crescent, by red Mississippi's waves. Walks the haughty Creole matron with her daughters and her slaves. Freedom's flag is floating o'er her, Freedom's sons she passes by, And the olden scornful fire burns rekindled in her eye.
How dare Freedom thus insult her? How dare mudsills walk the pave Whose each stone to her is hallowed by the toil-sweat of the slave? "What ! you call that rag your banner ? You, sir, hireling, hound, I mean ! Thus I spit upon your emblem ! Let your churl's blood wash it clean ! Well you wear your liveried jacket, hireling bravo that you are ! Lackey, paill to rob and murder in a thin disguise of war !" Thus with many a taunting gesture, speaks she to the Northern braves As she flaunts along the sidewalk with her daughters and her slaves ! Naught reply the Northern soldiers, smiling, though they feel the stings Of the foul and meretricious taunts the Southern ludy flings ; So he passes, while the venom from her fragrant mouth still slips, Like the loathsome toals and lizards from the enchanted maiden's lips, And her spotless soul joys doubtless, soft her modest bosom beats, That she so bas aped the harlot in her city's public streets !
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AND A FEW WEEKS LATER IN THE SEASCA.
In the City of the Crescent, by red Mississippi's waves, Walks the haughty Creole lady with her daughters and her slaves ; But her eye no longer flashes with its wonted fire of hate ; Her tongue is strangely silent now, and modest is her gait ; With quiet mien and humble she passes soldiers by, Nor even on our country's flag turns a defiant eve.
What wondrous glamour so hath changed the haughty lady's mien ? The crime of her rebellious heart hath she in sorrow seen ?
Or has her spotless besom owned that Yankees there may be Worthy of even a Creole's love? Is hers no longer free ? No ; it is none of these have tamed the lady's rebel soul ; On each maisill, she, certes, still breathes inward curse and dole ! And as for love, save for her knight, no love her heart can stir, Since o'er a julep's sugared brink he swore to die for her ; For though he died not, but preferred another field to seek,
'Twas only, as she knows, because the julep was too weak -!
'Twas none of these ! Another cause for change of mien had she ! For spitting once too often at the Banner of the Free, And once too often, through her pure lips the venom letting loose, The haughty Creole dame was shown into-THE CALABOOSE !
Whatever may have been the average judgment as to Butler's mil- itary career as a whole, the soldiers who served under him in that eventful summer of 1862, are in hearty accord with the general verdict, that in the administration of his arduous and delicate duties as military commandant of New Orleans, he proved to have been " the right man in the right place." Possessing, in rare measure, that essential element characterized by Inger- soll as " the audacity of genius," it served his purpose far more effectually than had " an army with banners " been his chief reliance.
During the entire period of Gen. Butler's reign at New Orleans the Union troops occupied but a comparatively small portion of Louisiana ter- ritory. Though we sported a " military governor," legislative assemblies, and all the paraphernalia of a reconstructed state government, Gen. Nick- erson was not very wide of the mark when he taunted Gov. Shepley with the remark : "Governor of Louisiana ! Why, General, you haven't terri- tory enough in your . State' to spread your proclamation upon!" New Orleans and its immediate vicinity was ours ; more than this, with the very small military force under Gen. Butler's command, it seemed imprudent to undertake. The city itself at all times required very careful nursing at the hands of the military authorities, as treason's fires, though effectually smothered, had by no means been extinguishel. It is true that very soon after the capture of the city a member of Admiral Farragut's vessels ran up the river as far as Vicksburg, with the idea of preventing the rebels from fortifying along its banks. The land forces also occupied Baton Rogue, and an extremely difficult feat of engineering was undertaken. with the design of so changing the course of the great river as to isolate the heights about
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Vicksburg and render them useless as sites for fortifications. The attempt proved abortive and cost us a good many valuable lives,-from malaria and other ailments contracted by exposure on the river while the enterprise was in progress. Naval vessels, however, frequently traversed the river, and did effective service, shelling the rebels away from various fortified positions and destroying a number of the enemy's gunboats and rams. The only affair in the Department approaching in magnitude to an engagement with the enemy, was that at Baton Rouge, in Angast. The attacking force was gathered for the purpose at Tangipahoa and commanded by the rebel Gen. John C. Breckinridge. It numbered about five thousand ; ours not more than half that number. The force attacked comprised the 14th Me., 21st. Ind., 6th Wis., 9th Conn., 7th Vt., and 30th Mass., under command of Gen. Williams, who was shot dead from his horse while gallantly rallying the 21st Ind. after every one of its field and staff officers had been killed. Our troops fought most heroically and finally repulsed the attacking force. The rebels at one time gained access to our camps and a desperately fierce contest, at close range, ensued. But the enemy was very severely punished. His loss was six hundred in killed, wounded and missing ; ours, fifty-six killed and one hundred and seventy-five wounded and missing. The rebel forces withdrew from the vicinity, and soon after our troops were recalled to Camp Parapet and other points. There was also quite a serious affair at Pass Manchac and Pontchitoula, in which several companies of the 12th Me. participatedl ; Capt Thornton of that regiment was severely wounded. Also worthy of passing mention is Gen. Weitzel's foraging expedition to the Lafourche region, when that wonderfully fertile district was forced to contribute liberally to the support of the government and the relief of the destitute of New Orleans. The slaves were turned loose, the sugar-cane gathered and utilized, cotton confiscated, loyal governments set in motion, and the rebel canse weakened and our own strengthened in various direc- tions. There was little if any resistance, no enemy being discovered in any considerable force.
While at the Parapet an important change in the Fifteenth's board of field officers was occasioned by the retirement, on account of resignation, of Col. John MeCluskey and Major Benjamin Hawes. A number of the line officers also left us at this point. Both Colonel Mccluskey and Major Hawes were gentlemen possessed of many most estimable qualities, who during their brief stay with us had won a large circle of warm personal friends, by whom their departure was keenly regretted. From the date of the acceptance of Col. MeCluskey's resignation the command of the regi- ment devolved upon Lient .- Colonel Dyer.
But the incidents of the eventful summer of 1862 which were its distinguishing characteristic-and which must ever be reverted to with
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sadness by the hundreds of aching hearts there bereaved-are yet to be referred to. They relate to the frightful inroads upon our ranks resulting from climatic conditions and disease incident to the malaria so prevalent in the region in which we were located.
Barring the sickness at Augusta and Portland, attributable to the exposure inevitably attending camp-life in Maine in mid-winter, the regi- ment had been in a remarkably healthy condition up to the date of our de- parture from Ship Island. But few deaths had occurred, and these mainly among those left behind in Maine. At Ship Island several died from diph- theria and one or two from other ailments. But the enervating effects of that long-prolonge I ant unfortunate voyage on the ship Tamerlane; the sudden and debilitating changes in the temperature ; the wilting influences of the midsummer Louisiana heat ; and the poisonous malaria with which the atmosphere in the region of the Mississippi swamps is constantly im- pregnated, proved more disastrous in their results than the grape, cannister and minnie balls of the field of carnage ; and very soon the stalwart regi- ment which had embarked at Ship Island in May with full ranks, was de- pleted to a mere skeleton of its former self. Disease and death were ma- king fearful ravages among us; and while the intense heat of a scorching Louisiana sun in June, July and August, was well-nigh unendurable even to the few remaining in robust health, to the poor fellows prostrated upon sick beds in the crowded hospitals, or in quarters, it proved disastrous in the extreme. The death-roll assumed formidable proportions. One, two and three burials per day, were not unusual during a portion of the sum- mer, while a " sick-list " of thirty, forty, and even fifty per company, was quite frequently shown by the morning reports. Death from sun-stroke was by no means rare ; while men relieved from guard-duty in the morn- ing, apparently well, were in some instances numbered with the dead before sunset. The force required for the care of the sick was necessarily large ; and with a hospital-roll exceeding in number that reported for duty, the outlook was very dispiriting. Ample and comfortable hospital accommo- dations were provided on a large ziver steamer moored to the levee not far from camp, and with the unremitting attentions of our medical force- Doctors Donnell, Kimball and Dodge-and its efficient corps of assistants, the condition of the patients was rendered as comfortable as possible under the circumstances. Where deemed practicable the hopelessly debilitated were discharged upon surgeon's certificate of disability and hurried to their homes, with the hope that a change of climate might prove beneficial, or, at least, that they might enjoy the comforts of home and the attentions of loved ones while crossing the dark river. Quite a member were also fur- loughed, and for like reasons. And yet, despite every effort, the number of the sick was constantly on the increase, and the soleum funeral proces-
THE STORY OF THE MAINE FIFTEENTH.
sion filed by our tents with mournful regularity, as the dreary days and weeks lengthened into months and the fateful August had been reached.
Ah! the deadly miasma of the Southern swamps and bayous! Its casualties far outnumber those entailed by the shock of battle ! For veri- fication of this off-quoted truism reference is made to the record of our losses for the years 1862-3, grouped under the captions ". Died in Service " and . Discharged for Disability," in the Appendix.
Very fortunately, however, carly in September the much-needed relief came, in the form of orders directing the regiment to prepare for a sea-voyage ; and, not unreluctantly, on the 9th of September we embarked on board the fine steamship Ocean Queen and immediately steamed down the Mississippi and out to sea, dropping anchor off Fort Pickens, command- ing the entrance of Pensacola Bay, on the evening of Sept. 10th -- our des- tination proving to be Pensacola, on the western coast of Florida.
CHAPTER VII.
THE FIFTEENTHI RECUPERATES IN WESTERN FLORIDA.
THE CITY OF PENSACOLA. - A VERY PLEASANT AND HEALTHY LOCATION. -- THE COM- MANDERS AND FORCES. -- INCIDENTS OF THE SOJOURN IN FLORIDA. -- FORAGING AND SCOUTING EXPEDITIONS. - "BAGDAD," " THE FIFTEEN MILE HOUSE," AND THE FATEFUL " ESCAMBIA RIVER."-EVACUATION OF PENSACOLA. - "BARRANCAS." -- THE RETURN TO THE MISSISSIPPI.
ARLY on the morning of Sept. 11th the Ocean Queen " weighed anchor " and steamed up the broad and magnificent Pensacola Bay to the city of that name-passing Forts Pickens and MeRea at the entrance of the Bay, and on the left an unsightly mass of ruins on the site once occupied by the fine buildings of the United States Navy Yard. Pensacola, some five miles up the harbor, was reached at about ning o'clock. The regiment immediately disembarked, and was assigned unusually com- fortable quarters in barracks, the deserted private residences being utilized for that purpose.
Pensacola, our new location, though now wearing a decidedly dilap- idated appearance, was found to be a city which in its prosperous dass had numbered a population of about five thousand. Once enterprising and thrifty, supporting an extensive commerce, and engaged in prosperous in
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dustries, desolation and decay were now the chief characteristics. The finest residences of the city had been vacated and many of them were now being occupied as quarters for the troops, offices for headquarters, hospital accommodations, etc. The commanding general, very properly, had appro- priated the elegant residence and grounds of an ex-U. S. Senator now a member of the cabinet of the Confederacy; minor officers were luxuriating in nicely-furnished apartments fronting the public squares; while the quarters of the enlisted men were by no means unpretentious.
The forces at the post, upon our arrival, were commanded by Gen. Richard Arnold, an artillery officer, the troops comprising the 6th and 91st N. Y., and two companies of the Ist U. S. Artillery. . Gen. Arnold was soon relieved, the command devolving upon the famous " Billy Wilson," the Colonel of that "desperately wicked " regiment, the New York Sixth. But in October Gen. Neal Dow was assigned to the command, and the New York regiments were relieved by the 7th Vt. (Col. Holbrook) and 28th Conn. (Col. Ferris.) In January Gen. Dow was ordered to the Mississip- pi, leaving Col. Dyer as the commander of the troops in Western Florida.
An important incident of regimental history, soon after reaching Pensacola, was the reorganization of the board of field officers, by the pro- motion of Lieut .- Col Dyer to Colonel; of Capt. Benj. B. Murray, jr., of Co. A, to Lieut .- Colonel ; and of Capt. Franklin M. Drew, of Co. G, to Major. Col. Dyer had practically -- and very ably and efficiently-exer- cised the command the larger portion of the time since the regiment's or- ganization, and it was exceedingly gratifying to all that he was now per- mitted to enjoy the full rank and emoluments to which he seems to have been entitled from the start ; while the selection of Captains Murray and Drew as his chief supporters, added strength, ability, and genuine worth, to the official board. The appointments proved very generally satisfactory to the members of the regiment. At about the same time an elegant reg- imental banner was received from Maine and formally presented in an ap- propriate address by Gen. Dow, to which Col. Dyer fittingly responded.
Companies " D" and " K" were quartered at the Forts during our sojourn at Pensacola, sharing with the troops of the regular army the duties of the garrison, and deriving many advantages from such association in the matter of drill and discipline. These companies rejoined the regi- ment, at Barrancas, March 28th, 1863.
One of the pleasant episodes incident to the very extraordinary ad- vantages of the Pensacola location, was the organization. by the temperance element of the regiment, of a Division of the Sons of Temperance. It was known as "Army Division, No. 1." regularly chartered and supplied by the Grand Division of Maine, held weekly meetings of a very interesting character, and attained a large membership. Church and sabbath-school
THE STORY OF THE MAINE FIFTEENTH. 89
facilities were also afforded; and in these and many other respects, New England's manners and customs were duplicated as closely as possible by the Maine colony which had established itself at Pensacola.
But as to the general health of the command ? Happily that was very greatly improved. With a most salubrious climate, comfortable quarters, a cool and health-giving sca-breeze much of the time, excellent water, and the " abundance of the sea " to draw upon for the fish-food not supplied by the commissary department, the regiment had scarcely become located upon the Florida coast before decidedly beneficial results were ex- perience:l. The very large " sick-list " of the "Camp Parapet " location gradually gave place to a decidedly improved condition of affairs. In two months' time our number " present for duty" had increased fifty per cent., and we were able to muster quite a full line of stalwart appearing " con- valescents" at the evening parades. Verily, as a sanitarium for the malaria- infected and debilitated soldiers of the Gulf Department, Pensacola proved a most happy conception. *
The guard-duty in Western Florida was the chief employment. A picket line encircled the entire city, extending some five or six miles, and the foree at the post being very small, the interval between the tours of guard-daty was necessarily very brief. Every other day was about an average diet at the start for the robust members of the regiment ; though later, when fortifications had been constructed, this duty was somewhat lightened by a contraction of the lines. However, as this was about the oaly irksome duty devalving upon the soldiers while at this post, there was very little occasion for complaint.
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